1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to colorants. More particularly, it concerns a family of orange colorants which find special application as orange colorants for edibles.
2. The Prior Art
FD&C Yellow No. 6, a monoazo dye of the formula ##STR2## commonly known as "Sunset Yellow" is currently the most widely used artificial color in foods and other edibles. It has an excellent orange hue which renders it useful in the wide range of yellow to orange to red-orange colored foods such as orange drink, soda, gelatin desserts, jellies and jams, orange cakes and the like and in nonfoods such as printing inks and the like. The past decade has seen a sustained attack on the general class of monoazo food colors. A number of these materials, including most notably and recently Reds No. 2 and 4, have been banned from edibles or had their useage seriously restricted by governmental action. This attack has given rise to searches for suitable replacements for the presently used monoazo dyes. A number of natural dyes, such as the carotenoid yellows, have been proposed as orange food colors but are very expensive.
The present invention relates to new orange dyes which may be in monomeric or polymeric form. In polymeric form, they offer the advantage of being nonabsorbable from the gastrointestinal tract of mammals and thus present substantially reduced risks of toxicity.